China's first manned spacecraft was launched early today. But most of the country's one billion population did not get even a dim view of the blast-off from the Gobi desert, because a nervous government had pulled the plug on a live television broadcast.

In an 11th-hour display of anxiety before China's boldest scientific mission in decades, communist leaders censored domestic media coverage and restricted public access to the remote Jiuquan launch site by setting up military checkpoints hundreds of miles away.

Such was the fear of a public backlash if the hugely expensive project went wrong that the China national space administration did not even reveal the number and identities of the first yuhangyuan (space voyagers) until after the successful launch - though a Hong Kong-based newspaper reported that the favourite for the mission was a former fighter pilot, Yang Liwei, later confirmed as astronaut.

The timing of the mission was also left vague. Government spokesmen said the Shenzhou (divine vessel) 5 would take off at a "proper time" between today and Friday.

But the spacecraft went off around 2am British time today, apparently without problems as it lit up the desert sky.

CCTV, the state broadcaster, announced last week that it would be broadcasting the event live. Yesterday, however, the channel said the plan had been scrapped. "We have been ordered to change our coverage to video highlights in news bulletins that will go out after the launch is successfully completed," said the CCTV controller, Jiang Heping. "We don't know where the orders came from."

Hong Kong media reported that TV interviews with crew, technicians and senior officials at the launch site have already been filmed, but will not go out on the airwaves unless everything passes off smoothly.

Government-controlled newspapers have run photographs of the white, three-stage Long March rocket that will carry the Shenzhou.

The front page of the Beijing Youth Daily on Monday ran the picture under a head line declaring: "Our launch site is simply the best."

"Space City", the community of technicians and other space-centre workers in the middle of the vast Gobi desert, was described as an eco-friendly oasis with swimming pools and streetlamps shaped like rockets.

Usually ignored, it has attracted a growing number of curious outsiders in recent weeks. The Jinhang Travel Agency, which charges visitors £25 to get within 200 metres of the launch pad, said about 90 people a day were joining its tours.

But only Chinese citizens with a pre-arranged licence are allowed into the area. Foreigners are turned back at military checkpoints as far away as Jiuquan, 120 miles away from the site. Travel agents at Jiluguan, nearly 200 miles from the site, say an area hundreds of kilometres wide has been blocked off.

The government's caution may be partly attributable to the last live broadcast, which ended in disaster. In 1995, a Long March rocket carrying a satellite exploded on takeoff killing six people. But the communist party leadership also has a great deal at stake.

Having spent a huge undisclosed sum, estimated in the billions of dollars, on a space mission with few concrete benefits, they do not want to justify their decision until it is proven a national triumph that will appeal even to the millions who live on less than a dollar a day.

For the past week, the state media's coverage of the mission has been low-key. Even in Beijing yesterday, many people were unaware that the launch was about to take place.

Official reports have focused largely on the safety features of the Shinzhou 5, which includes ejector seats that can be used if anything goes wrong during takeoff, and docking ports that would allow a second rescue mission to collect the crew if they are unable to return to earth after the 14-orbit, 21-hour mission.

Untested

But the life-support system of the Shenzhou remains relatively untested. The US and Russia - the only other two nations to put a man in space - carried out more than a dozen test flights before risking the lives of astronauts.

But China has staged only four previous unmanned Shenzhou missions, one of which was reportedly damaged while landing in a blizzard in Inner Mongolia. The same touchdown point will be used this time.

According to the Wen Wei Po newspaper, three yuhangyuan have been shortlisted for the mission: Yang Liwei, Zhai Zhigang and Nie Haisheng - all former air force pilots in their 30s and under 170cm (5ft 7in) tall, deemed the maximum height for moving around inside a three-part capsule described by one engineer as being the size of an average Chinese toilet.

Although the Shenzhou is reportedly capable of carrying three people, only one is expected to go on the first mission.

The Wen Wei Po said a final decision would be made based on a final psychological test three hours before the launch. Yang, a 38-year-old native of Liaoning Province, who has been in yuhangyuan training for 10 years, is believed to be the favourite.

In China, Yang's name is still unknown. But if he is chosen and the mission goes off successfully today, he will be made into a national hero by a government which will open the media floodgates.

"The first yuhangyuan will be the hero of China's hi-tech age, just as Mao was the hero of the political age," said Liu Shiyung, a Beijing cotton factory worker. "This is really something for our country to be proud of. I am just disappointed that we cannot watch it live on TV."